When it came to the Rinnegan, UchihaHongzhong wasn't unfamiliar with it.
In reality, his main body possessed a pair. In the Akatsuki battle arena, there were even more. He had seen the likes of Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Sasuke at certain points.
But compared to those individuals, who was this little cookie in front of him?
How could he possibly be worthy of the Rinnegan?
Wait a minute.
His gaze swept over the other two who appeared, standing in a triangular formation, a total of three.
These three people... no, three corpses, all had the Rinnegan. Where did they come from?
"Some kind of puppet jutsu?"
After a moment of thought, Hongzhong roughly understood.
From his sensory perspective, there were three invisible but incredibly clear chakra energy lines in the air, connecting from a distance to this spot. The ends of the three lines were inserted into the bodies of the three individuals.
The true owner of the Rinnegan must be controlling these three from afar.
It was likely that the person behind all this was the so-called "God" or Pain?
"Interesting!"
Hongzhong's gaze darted over the three puppets, and his eyes gradually became more intrigued.
A pair of Rinnegan he had never seen before, a mysterious owner!
And the red-clouded black robes, which represented the Akatsuki organization!
This mysterious organization, which he had been searching for but could never find, was now unexpectedly found here.
Curiosity!
Very, very curious!
An owner of the Rinnegan, yet hiding in a small ninja village and quietly developing.
I, Naruto, am quietly developing and causing trouble everywhere to rightfully become the unrivaled sun of the ninja world!
What about you?
With both the Rinnegan and the Akatsuki organization, what are you trying to do?
Naruto—no, Hongzhong didn't even dare to imagine!
The ninja world couldn't afford to have such an old schemer!
Wait, the ninja world only allows one old schemer, me, Uzumaki Naruto!
Originally, he had only planned to do a simple reconnaissance of the Hidden Rain Village.
But now... he had to turn the Hidden Rain Village upside down and figure things out completely. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night from worry.
With that thought, Hongzhong immediately changed his approach.
"Heh, is this the Hidden Rain Village's way of hospitality?" His tone was full of questioning.
That's right!
His identity as Uchiha Hongzhong was just a small ninja who came to the Hidden Rain Village to seek a job!
And yet, he was treated this way as soon as he arrived!
Why?
You're forcing me to act out!
Good, now I have a reason to act out, and I can easily wrap things up if an unexpected situation arises.
"Is this an invader we can communicate with?"
The person standing to the back right, with long reddish-orange hair styled exactly like Ino's, said, word by word. His voice was cold and his tone was like a machine, devoid of inflection or emotion.
The Animal Path's callous Rinnegan stared at this unfamiliar invader.
His appearance was unremarkable, but his physique was tall and robust. His chakra was quite massive, even stronger than the main body's, as perceived by Hongzhong.
This was a bad omen!
However, unlike the five strange invaders from before, this one could be communicated with.
"Invader, state your name!"
"My name?"
Hongzhong raised an eyebrow. It seemed a little conversation wasn't a bad idea. "Hongzhong. And you? What should I call you?"
"Pain!"
Pain?
Hongzhong's eyes flickered. So this is Pain? The Pain-sama from the memory of that lower-ranked ninja? So the person behind him is the so-called "God"?
Uchiha Hongzhong acted as if he hadn't noticed that the three were corpses, and continued to talk to gather more information. "And your other two brothers? What are their names?"
"Pain is the name of all three of us."
The Animal Path spoke loudly, scrutinizing Hongzhong. "Your name... Hongzhong? A name I've never heard before. A strong person like you shouldn't be an unknown."
"Heh."
Hongzhong sneered. "The same goes for you. Someone with those eyes shouldn't be obscure either."
"So that's how it is, huh?"
Pain, or rather, Nagato behind him, sighed.
This person was another troublemaker and was very confident in his own strength.
Such a person... Nagato actually wanted to recruit. Since he discovered he had been deceived by the so-called "Uchiha Madara," the Akatsuki organization had lost several key members. Uchiha Obito, Zetsu, Hidan, and others. Moreover, Uchiha Obito had initiated a military race, and this morning's news reported that he had already begun to capture Tailed Beasts.
The Akatsuki organization was severely short on manpower to carry out its plan ahead of schedule. They needed strong people to join. In fact, before this, he had also considered recruiting two powerful ninjas who had invaded. However, those two were unyielding and he had to kill them.
But this person in front of him was different; he could be reasoned with, which meant he could be recruited.
As for being a troublemaker? Pain had seen many. Which one in the Akatsuki wasn't a troublemaker? Didn't they all end up joining obediently?
These kinds of people just needed a good beating to become much more docile.
So... he'd test his strength first.
"It seems I'll have to beat you into submission before we can continue to talk!"
The Animal Path clapped his hands together.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang—
After a burst of white smoke, a strange and gigantic chameleon appeared. It flicked out its tongue, wrapped up the speaking Pain, and then completely concealed itself, disappearing without a trace.
The Animal Path?
Hongzhong, who also possessed the Rinnegan, instantly knew this person's abilities. Although he had never made the Six Paths of Pain himself, he was more than familiar with their abilities!
Moreover, Hongzhong keenly noticed a change; this person no longer seemed intent on killing him but wanted to communicate.
He wants to use me? Hongzhong understood this person's thoughts.
But who isn't?
Upon seeing the Rinnegan, Hongzhong immediately had an idea.
The Rinnegan represented immense power. Compared to this person, that weakling Uchiha Obito's importance immediately plummeted.
But there's no rush.
The master hunter often appears in the form of prey.
I'll play along for now and see what this guy is really up to!
"So simple and direct."
Hongzhong grinned, his gaze sweeping the surroundings as if searching for the invisible chameleon. In reality, under his powerful chakra sensing, that massive creature was as clear as day.
"Then, let my jutsu do the talking!"
His eyes roamed, and when they locked onto the bald Pain in front of him, Hongzhong's expression changed.
This is the Preta Path.With him here, none of my ninjutsu will work.
Tsk.
He hadn't thought about it before, but now that he saw it, the Rinnegan was indeed a bit troublesome. Especially when he didn't want to reveal too much of his abilities.
In that case... I'll just have to deal with this one first!
Hongzhong's hands moved so fast they were a blur.
"Ninja Art: Dark Mist!"
With the genjutsu, an infinite darkness instantly enveloped the Preta Path.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Tornado!"
He opened his mouth and spat out a ferocious fire dragon that instantly took shape. The scorching flames twisted the air, and the temperature of this not-so-enclosed space instantly rose by over ten degrees.
Roar—
With a roar of flames, the fire dragon charged towards the Preta Path, which was enveloped in the genjutsu.
As the charging fire dragon was about to consume the Preta Path, the Preta Path extended its hands and absorbed the attack entirely.
"Tsk. Sensing? Did my voice give it away? Or something else?"
Warily, Hongzhong glanced at the other two and decided to try a different approach.
He crouched down to build up power, then exploded into motion!
Tap, tap, tap—
Hongzhong moved with a speed that left afterimages. In an instant, he was in front of the Preta Path, throwing a powerful punch!
Boom—
Smack~
The Preta Path, with no vision, actually managed to catch the surprise punch?
Thud!
It was indeed unexpected. Hongzhong swept his leg out again, and despite its parry, the Preta Path was swept away by Hongzhong's immense force!
Crash!
The flying Preta Path hit the wall like a meteorite, smashing into the pipe-filled wall and disappearing from sight.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
A large amount of water sprayed from the severed pipes.
As expected, just as I thought. The three of them share a common field of vision.
This is going to be troublesome.